CHENNAI, India (AP)—James Tredwell and Luke Wright kept England alive at the World Cup after another dramatic finish, helping their team to an 18-run win after the West Indies lost their last four wickets for four runs in Thursday’s Group B match.
Playing for survival, England bowled West Indies out for 225 after making 243 all out. England had to win its final group game to avoid an early exit.
Tredwell took 4-48 on his World Cup debut, including a key late strike, after Wright stroked a priceless 44 in his first game at the tournament.
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The West Indies tail folded after Andre Russell’s 49 from 46 balls had dragged the Caribbean squad to the brink of a quarterfinal-clinching win. It could have all been over sooner, but Russell was awarded six runs when he got the benefit of the doubt as Jonathan Trott slid toward the boundary as he took a catch late in the innings.
Trott got the final say, however, when he ran out Sulieman Benn attempting a foolish second run to culminate the match as England escaped to keep its own quarterfinal hopes alive.
Group B’s remaining three quarterfinalists—and England’s fate—will now be decided with the final round of games where West Indies plays India and Bangladesh faces already-qualified South Africa.
“We’ve been through a lot together,” skipper Andrew Strauss said. “It was a great credit to James Tredwell coming in today. Luke Wright batted well.
“We’re delighted to have won this game. It’s a big plus—but there’s no doubt we’ve got to improve.”
Russell had earlier taken a career-best 4-49 in a stunning allround performance for West Indies in just his second ODI as England slipped to 151-6 batting first.
But Wright stemmed a middle-order collapse hitting five fours coming in at No. 7.
Tredwell then led England’s bowling comeback with the first three wickets after Chris Gayle had opened with an onslaught of big hits against the seamers.
He also removed Russell for a crucial late breakthrough to end what had appeared to be a match-winning innings by the West Indies allrounder.
England clinched another topsy-turvy match when Ramnaresh Sarwan (31) and then Kemar Roach fell to offspinner Graeme Swann (3-36) in the same over and Trott produced the dramatic run out with a hard, flat throw from near the third man boundary. West Indies went from 222-6 to 225 all out.
“At the end of the day we lost,” West Indies captain Darren Sammy said. “We lacked the killer instinct. We should have chased down the total. That’s cricket … all in all, 243, we should have got that.”
Gayle smashed Bresnan for four boundaries in the third over, and Chris Tremlett was launched for three fours and a six off consecutive deliveries.
England’s spin attack slowed the big left-hander on a helpful Chennai pitch, however, with Swann tying him down before Tredwell delivered a priceless wicket — his first in one-day cricket—when Gayle was out lbw for 43 off 21 balls.
The offspinner then had Devon Smith stumped and Darren Bravo caught by Strauss at slip.
Sammy played a pinch-hitting role with two fours and three sixes, but his team was in trouble when he chopped a wide delivery from Ravi Bopara onto his stumps. Devon Thomas fell in almost identical fashion two overs later.
Dangerman Kieron Pollard got going with a six over midwicket off Swann and was then dropped by Bopara two balls later.
Another six down the ground followed but Swann did claim his crucial wicket lbw for 24.
With Pollard’s big-hitting threat averted, Russell led the West Indies’ fightback in a 72-run stand when West Indies had been down and out at 160-5.
But Tredwell, Swann and then Trott produced another final twist in England’s rollercoaster ride so far at the World Cup.
“We desperately didn’t want to be leaving this World Cup at this stage,” Strauss added. “I’m very proud of the lads, I wish it wasn’t as close as it was but delighted to have won the game.”
Swann said: “I’d given that one up for dead. I just thought, “We’ll we’ve had that many close games, it just hasn’t been our World Cup.’ Then all of a sudden, we’re still here.”
Under pressure, England had made three changes to its lineup, with allrounder Wright, Tredwell and paceman Tremlett coming in. Paul Collingwood and James Anderson were dropped and Ajmal Shahzad was ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury.
Strauss came out firing with four early boundaries and No. 3 Trott hammered six fours off the first nine balls he faced—pulling, glancing and driving to the boundary as England scored at six an over off the first 10.
Only Strauss’s departure to Russell pulled England back. And when Trott was out for 47 off 38 balls, the scoring rate suddenly slowed.
Legspinner Devendra Bishoo (3-34) claimed his first international wicket on debut when Trott chipped tamely to midwicket for Gayle’s second catch and Roach (2-34) ended Ian Bell’s sluggish 27 from 48 balls when he blasted the off stump out the ground with the first ball of his second spell.
Bell and Eoin Morgan fell in the space of eight balls and when Bopara played on to Russell in the 33rd over, England had lost three more wickets and added just 30 runs in 10.2 overs.
Wright’s square drive over the cover fielders in the 35th over ended a 13-over period without a boundary from an England batsman. He continued with a full-blooded drive through extra cover in the 37th and a third four over midwicket in the 40th.
The seventh-wicket stand ended with the run out of Tredwell, but Wright continued to salvage England’s effort with consecutive fours in the 42nd over before he finally fell for Bishoo’s third wicket.
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